Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Drug Discovery, Molecular Biology)

• Institute for Molecular Bioscience

• Collaborate with highly awarded, world-class colleagues  

• Access state-of-the-art facilities to further your research endeavours 

• Fast track your career with our early career academic development program 

• Based at St Lucia

About UQ

As part of the UQ community, you’ll have the opportunity to work alongside the brightest minds, who have joined us from all over the world, and within an environment where interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged.

At the core of our teaching remains our students, and their experience with us sets a foundation for success far beyond graduation. UQ has made a commitment to making education opportunities available for all Queenslanders, regardless of personal, financial, or geographical barriers.

As part of our commitment to excellence in research and professional practice in academic contexts, we are proud to provide our staff with access to world-class facilities and equipment, grant writing support, greater research funding opportunities, and other forms of staff support and development.

About This Opportunity 

In this industry-academic collaboration, an exceptional opportunity awaits a Postdoctoral Research Fellow specializing in Molecular Biology/Biochemistry. Join a vibrant and collaborative environment dedicated to advancing drug development with a strong focus on translation. As a member of our team, you’ll have access to every facet of the drug development process, engaging closely with chemists, biologists, and industry leaders.

At the heart of any successful drug discovery endeavour is the design of potent drug leads. Leveraging your expertise in molecular biology, you’ll play a pivotal role in crafting innovative drug leads tailored to combat cancer. You will have the chance to delve into cutting-edge methodologies, enriching your skill set and broadening your scientific horizons. It is highly desirable that you also have some basic knowledge of cell biology.

 Key responsibilities include:  

1. Research

• Produces quality research outputs consistent with discipline norms by publishing or exhibiting in high quality outlets.

• Actively participate as a part of a team in group meetings, research project discussions, and in seminars.

• Generate and develop new research ideas, including performing experiments, analysing data, and recording data.

• Work with colleagues in the development of joint research projects and applications for competitive research funding support.

• Contribute to progressing towards transfer of knowledge, technology and practices to research end users through translation, including commercialisation of UQ intellectual property.

2. Supervision and Researcher Development

• Contribute to the effective supervision of Honours and Higher Degree by Research students (as appropriate).

• Demonstrates personal effectiveness in supervision and the management of researcher development.

This is a research focused position. Further information can be found by viewing UQ’s Criteria for Academic Performance .

This is a full-time (100%), fixed-term position for one year (i.e., up to March 2025) with the possibility of renewal. For suitably qualified applicant, the possibility of a two year appointment will be considered.

At Academic level A the full-time equivalent base salary will be in the range $77,324.85 – $102,945.12, plus a generous super allowance of up to 17%. The total FTE package will be up to $90,470.08 – $120,445.79 annually. As this role is covered by an Enterprise Agreement, you will also receive regular remuneration increases – at least once a year.

The greater benefits of joining the UQ community are broad:  from being part of a Group of Eight university, to recognition of prior service with other Australian universities, up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave, 17.5% annual leave loading, and genuine career progression opportunities via the academic promotions process.

About You  

• Completion of a PhD in fields relating to molecular biology and biochemistry. Two years of previous experience in a similar role would be considered favourably.

• Experience with molecular biology and biochemistry techniques, including cloning, PCR, recombinant protein expression, recombinant display libraries (e.g., phage, yeast and/or mRNA display).

• Experience with cell biology techniques, including cell culturing, flow cytometry would be considered favourably.

• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and also independently on research projects.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including evidence of publications in reputed refereed journals and presenting at conferences.

In addition, the following mandatory requirements apply:

• Work Rights: You must have unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply. Visa sponsorship is not available for this appointment. 

• Mandatory Immunisations: It is a condition of employment for this role that you will be required to provide evidence of immunisation against certain vaccine preventable diseases.

• Background Checks: All final applicants for this position may be asked to consent to a criminal record check. Please note that people with criminal records are not automatically barred from applying for this position. Each application will be considered on its merits. 

Questions? 

For more information about this opportunity, please contact Dr Conan Wang ([email protected] ), Professor David Craik ([email protected] ), and Dr Yen-Hua Crystal Huang ([email protected] )

For application queries, please contact [email protected] stating the job reference number (below) in the subject line.

Want to Apply? 

All applicants must upload the following documents in order for your application to be considered:

• Resume

• Cover letter responding to the ‘About You’ section

Other Information 

At UQ we know that our greatest strengths come from our diverse mix of colleagues, this is reflected in our ongoing commitment to creating an environment focused on equity, diversity and inclusion .  We ensure that we are always attracting, retaining and promoting colleagues who are representative of the diversity in the broader community, whether that be gender identity , LGBTQIA+ , cultural and/or linguistic , Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples , or people with a disability . Accessibility requirements and/or adjustments can be directed to [email protected] .

If you are a current employee (including casual staff and HDR scholars) or hold an unpaid/affiliate appointment, please login to your staff Workday account and visit the internal careers board to apply for this opportunity. Please do NOT apply via the external job board.

Applications close Tuesday 19 March 2024 at 11.00pm AEST (R-34954).